Ian McKenna, director at the Financial Technology Research Centre, said lenders were trying to keep affordability calculators on their own sites in order to lock in brokers and consumers. He said systems could be better structured to aid brokers and consumers and create a more seamless advice process, if affordability calculators were featured on sourcing systems.
He said: “The market could use technology far more cohesively, but lenders are trying to build systems in isolation to prevent consumers getting independent advice. They have too much of a vested interest in the status quo as the current system works to their advantage.”
McKenna said that if affordability calculators were built into the sourcing systems, it would help brokers see exactly what lenders were willing to lend and save time and money.
However, he added: “The problem for the large lenders is that technology can potentially enable smaller players to punch above their weight, and those with a large market share could potentially lose out as the specialist players begin to shine.”
Paul Fincham, senior media relations officer at Halifax, said the inclusion of affordability calculators on sourcing systems was complex, but denied competitive advantage was an issue.
He said: “Each lender’s criteria is subject to change and plugs into a variety of external and internal sources. Ensuring this is up-to-date would be a concern for lenders, plus brokers and consumers can use affordability calculators without submitting an application anyway.
“Obviously, we would be willing to look at this should more work be done in this area.”
